ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Crumpling

When you take a piece of paper and you twist it into a ball or squish it up into a tight wad, that's called crumpling. Imagine you have a blank sheet of paper, like the ones you use for drawing or writing. Now try folding it in half, then in half again. Keep doing this until the paper is all crumpled up and wrinkly.

You may notice that when you crumple up the paper, it gets smaller and takes up less space. This is because the air between the fibers of the paper gets pushed out, making the paper more compact.

The reason paper can be crumpled without falling apart is because it has something called elasticity. This means that it can bend and flex without breaking. When you crumple the paper, some of the fibers get stretched and bent out of shape, but they're still hanging on to each other.

Also, crumpling is a great way to recycle paper! When you put it in the recycling bin, the paper is collected and taken to a recycling plant where it's mixed with water to create a pulp. Then, the pulp is put into a machine that flattens and dries it into new sheets of paper. So, crumpling your paper can actually help save trees and protect our environment!